The season is on and in full effect so far this year. Let's hope La Nina does what it's supposed to. The backcountry is off to a stable start with the snow layers forming beautifully bottom-up like we want 'em to.

The "hype" for Montana skiing is a whole lot less than hyper! "Dont believe what you see, dont believe what you hear" U2. We aint no Vail, or Aspen, or Killington, now those mountains get "hyped"!

Big Sky is a fantastic mountain! No lift lines, great snow, lots of shale that`s barely covered up high, due to wind scouring, super steep chutes, you should have a blast!Bridger Bowl just opened a new chair last year that accesses the Ridge! Transceiver, probe, and shovel required to ride it, super sick terrain, and they have been getting blasted since Oct.!

1000 peaks , for easy, safe day you might go up to Hylite. It is crowded on weekends but very tame x-country trails and a beautiful area close to Bozeman. Lots of choices up there. They have been keeping the road open the last couple years.

1000Pks wrote:Sounds good for somewhere down the line for me. I guess there is no access to say Logan Pass or Glacier at this time of year. Looks like now I'll be about Dillon or vicinity, and I guess snow about Missoula is too inaccessible, unreliable or what. Is skiing on Mt Helena near Helena any kind of thought?

Check with Tim Sharp on skiing around Missoula. The Snowbowl ski area is only a few minutes from town, plus there is much back country skiing in the immediate vicinity. I don't know what you mean by "inaccessible," but I'd say there is a great deal of skiing close to town that is quite accessible. And yes, Glacier is pretty much closed off during the winter except to those individuals familiar with the terrain.

CBakwin wrote:1000 peaks , for easy, safe day you might go up to Hylite. It is crowded on weekends but very tame x-country trails and a beautiful area close to Bozeman. Lots of choices up there. They have been keeping the road open the last couple years.

Sounds good for somewhere down the line for me. I guess there is no access to say Logan Pass or Glacier at this time of year. Looks like now I'll be about Dillon or vicinity, and I guess snow about Missoula is too inaccessible, unreliable or what. Is skiing on Mt Helena near Helena any kind of thought?

It looks like our crowd control message concerning Missoula area skiing is getting out there effectively! The local ski hill 20 minutes from downtown Missoula gets over 300 inches a year, has 2600 vertical ft drop, and a wild and wooly reputation!But unreliable? Not really!

Back country from Lolo Pass [Hwy 12] is very good, as well as many canyons in the Bitterroots, most esp. Gash Point. Lost Trail Pass[Hwy 93] is also very good skiing, along with Look Out Pass, and the St Regis River Basin [I-90]. Discovery Basin is also off to a great start. The one place that you mentioned [Mt Helena] is far and away the area that is the least likely of the spots mentioned to have good conditions.

Avalanche.org for the most up to date conditions, Bozeman and Glacier have more updates than the Missoula site [http://www.missoulaavalanche.org/] we just don`t get the funding from the Lolo National Forest, like those guys get from the Gallatin and Flathead National Forests!

If you need local conditions anytime for the Bozeman/Livingston area, feel free to PM me. Dec 9-12 will be the annual Ice Climbing Festival so Hyalite will be crowded then, otherwise parking is never a problem, crowded in Montana means you might see some other people......it's not like California or Colorado (all due respect).